1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for folding shirts or similar articles of clothing for packing for use in conjunction with an apparatus wherein a plurality of folding devices are adapted to rotate in synchronism and each shirt or similar article of clothing placed on these folding devices is folded in the course of its step-by-step processing about a cardboard insert and fastened so that it does not come apart.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the above-mentioned known process, a shirt or similar article of clothing is folded about a cardboard insert and is manually fastened so that it does not fall apart by means of pins and U-shaped clips. The shoulder and sleeve sections of the shirt or similar article of clothing, in particular, are pinned and only the side and sleeve sections of the article are fastened by means of clips, the U-shaped clips being pushed from the longitudinal side of the cardboard insert onto the shirt or similar article of clothing, with the cardboard inserted therebetween.
Mechanical pinning and clipping of a shirt or similar article of clothing in the above manner about a cardboard insert is, for various reasons, either not possible or not advantageous within the framework of the process mentioned initially. In addition, the means employed according to the known process such as cardboard inserts, pins and U-shaped clips are unsuitable or disadvantageous for mechanically fastening articles of clothing so that they do not fall apart. For example, it is impossible to supply the pins and insert them in the shirt or similar article of clothing at the spot at which the article is to be fastened by means of mechanical devices and the U-shaped clips can only be mechanically pushed onto the shirt or similar article of clothing with great difficulty.
The above-mentioned U-shaped clips for the manual clipping operation possess two arms of different lengths exerting a clamping action by their inherent tension. The end of the shorter arm is outwardly bent upwards and the inner sides of the arms are provided with undulating projections in the region where they are closest to each other. These U-shaped clips are made of plastic material and have a transparent appearance. The clips are accordingly translucent. They also possess the same width over their entire length. A clip of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,462,809.
In German OS 2 153 157, a U-shaped clip is described which is not only suitable for manual operations but also for mechanical fastening operations. This clip possesses two arms of equal length and exerts a clamping action between the two arms. The ends of the arms are outwardly bent upwards to such an extent that the outer edges of the same lie in the same plane as the outer faces of the remaining arm parts coordinated therewith, the aforementioned planes being arranged in parallel. The upwardly bent ends of the arms are substantially broader than the remaining parts of the arms. In addition, the inner sides of the arms are denticulated in the region where they are closest together. The clips are made of plastic material. A particular disadvantage of mechanically pushing this U-shaped clip onto a folded shirt or similar article of clothing is that the upwardly bent ends of the arms are substantially broader than the remaining parts of the arms so that it is difficult to mechanically guide the same to the spot to be clipped and this can only be effected by means of complicated devices. This constitutes the reason why these U-shaped clips and the devices described in the above-mentioned German Offenlegungsschrift (delivery unit and guide track) have not yet been used in practice.
German Gebrauchsmuster 1 811 063 describes a clip belonging to the U-shaped clip group which is designed for hanging laundered clothing on washing lines. The inner sides of the arms of this clip have interlocking teeth obliquely directed towards the rear part of the same. However, on account of its shape, this clip is otherwise unsuitable for clipping shirts or similar articles of clothing which have just been manufactured.
It is also known to provide holes of varying shapes and sizes at various points in the above-mentioned cardboard inserts. This is done for various reasons and makes it possible, inter alia, to manually pin by means of pins the folded shirt or similar article of clothing to prevent it from coming apart.
The known cardboard inserts also have the disadvantage that they can only be mechanically lifted with difficulty piece by piece from a stack consisting of a plurality of cardboard inserts, more particularly, by means of so-called suction cups, and thereafter conveyed to the folding devices owing to the fact that the cardboard inserts in the pile tend to stick together as a result of being stacked on top of one another.